不良研究所

No doubt about it, the world is shrinking.

Between the ability to communicate with anyone at any time through a range of technologies to the movement of people across borders and around the world, accessing different peoples and cultures is becoming more and more common.

With this merging and melding of people often comes the desire to either retain part of the culture of one鈥檚 birth, or to learn more about another.

In the case of education, the development of dual language schools has grown significantly over the years.  In the 不良研究所 Board of Education, for example, the number of schools offering language and cultural bilingual instruction has grown significantly: ten years ago, six schools offered dual language instruction; today, there are 17 schools in the CBE offering bilingual programs in three languages (German, Mandarin and Spanish), in addition to 24 French immersion schools.

鈥淒ual language programs provide children opportunities to learn in and about other languages and cultures, says Christine Cheung.  鈥淚n a multicultural society, building understanding and common experiences strengthens relationships, and studies have also shown the benefits to the brain in learning a second language that promotes memory, creative thinking and problem solving.鈥�

Cheung is the principal of the Highwood School, a bilingual elementary school focusing on Chinese (Mandarin), and she has experienced the expansion of the dual language program first hand. 

Cheung, who is also currently a doctoral student in the Werklund School of Education, earned her at U不良研究所 in 1998, followed by her in 2006, began her career an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher, and then moved throughout various programs focused on language learning before taking the helm at Highwood.

Throughout the years, Cheung has seen a significant increase in demand for dual language schools, and she says that often this shift has been attributed to how globalized the world has become.  鈥淧arents want to equip their children with the language and culture that will likely put them ahead of their monolingual peers,鈥� she explains.  鈥淟ooking into the future, they see knowing additional languages as being huge assets that will put their child ahead.鈥�

鈥淎dditionally, I have also seen second and third generation Canadian parents seek out the bilingual programs in the hope that their children will learn the language and culture that they themselves lost.  For many, it is the opportunity to have their children better connect, communicate, and relate to their grandparents and great grandparents.鈥�

Cheung鈥檚 doctoral studies focus on Educational Leadership, with a specific emphasis on what leadership qualities are required to strengthen the dual language programs.

鈥淚 have chosen to focus my work in this area because I see the challenges we鈥檝e faced in the past few years鈥攎ostly due to the accelerated interest, growth and popularity in these programs.鈥�

鈥淚 hope to look at ways to ensure that the programs are keeping up with global changes, expectations and trends to ensure that we are always at the leading edge in providing students with a top-notch bilingual educational experience. 

鈥淔inding leaders who understand the culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogy that is necessary to ensure program integrity and success is key.鈥�